Sunday, October 12, 2008

Practice What You Preach

Right now a lot of people are wondering why I'm not practicing what I preach. There's a good explanation, if you'll read on.

I have always said it is better to buy property rather than pay rent. Right now I am finding that is not always true.

Living in a condo with a price tag of about $240,000 would have given me a mortgage of around $1200 with 20 percent down. The homeowners association fees would be around $600 a month, for a combined total of $1800 a month.

Instead, I am paying rent of only $675 a month (winter rates) which includes all utilities, telephone and wireless internet. Did I mention that it's an oceanfront condo?

So you see, in order for me to be able to live here, it would cost a lot more to purchase. Obviously, in this case it is better to pay rent than to own. This is why each individual should evaluate each situation for themselves to see if it may be better to rent or to own.